Kendall Coffey: Decision to Deny Kennedy Cousin Bail Appropriate

A judge's decision to deny bail to Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel while he awaits a new trial for the brutal 1975 murder of Martha Moxley is a proper ruling, according to Kendall Coffey, a founding member of the law firm Coffey Burlington.

"If you, in effect, start all over again, let him out of jail on bail, go to a new trial, you could imagine the ordeal that would be for, among others, the family, the victims, and the system," Coffey told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.

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"Putting the case together . . . a year from now is mind boggling. The prosecution is saying, look, let us find out if this appellate decision that granted a new trial is really going to hold up. That appellate decision granting a new trial was wrong. We want to challenge it. And, until we sort that out with the next level of judicial review, let's not turn back the clock and try to start this whole thing again."

"Hold everything and let's see what is finally going to be the decision about whether Michael Skakel gets a new trial."

But Connecticut Judge Thomas Bishop said Skakel won't be given bail now, he can apply again for his freedom once his new trial is underway.

Skakel, 53-year-old cousin of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., had been serving 20 years behind bars when Bishop ordered a new trial.

A judge's decision to deny bail to Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel while he awaits a new trial for the brutal 1975 murder of Martha Moxley is a proper ruling, according to Kendall Coffey, a founding member of the law firm Coffey Burlington.